Cafe Beaujolais in Eagle Rock is friendly and unpretentious, and not too expensive either. Bistro de la Gare in South Pasadena, by Cafe Beaujolais' former owner, is another pretty good joint, though our second visit was much less impressive that our first, when they'd recently opened. And Le Petit Café, on Colorado in Santa Monica, is an Alsatian place with loads of charm and cheer and really good hearty food. We did enjoy Angelique; alas, we hear they've sold it.

My New Year's resolution for 2007, BTW, is to try as many variations on the Steak Frites theme as my wallet and cholesterol levels will allow. So I will be watching this thread...

Lucques. The frites have some fresh herbs fried along. Plus, with patience, you'll have hot crisp fries at the start, and beef-juice-soaked fries later (like the fries w/Dino's chicken, only beefy)! Also a nice arugula salad shares the plate. Oh, and there's a ramekin of bearnaise, too. I can't order anything else there for lunch.